This disclosure relates generally to lightweight audio communication systems and specifically to communication systems in which the message-recording facility is integrated with a lightweight audio communication facility in a three-turn interactive design.
An example of a lightweight audio communication system is the half-duplex, push-to-talk (PTT) “walkie-talkie” audio communication such as provided by Nextel® Communication's “Direct Connect”® service or a similar unit as illustrated in FIG. 5, whose features include push-to-talk button 510. Another type includes PTT desktop Voice over IP (VoIP) audio conferencing systems. Relative to the telephone, the main advantage of using a lightweight audio communication system is that sequences of conversational turns can be initiated with much less effort. One reason for this reduced effort is that the dialing/ringing/connection delay associated with telephone calls does not occur. Another reason is that such systems are generally used within groups of people who have strong preexisting relationships, thus enabling individual interactions that usually bypass the multi-turn “opening” sequences that characterize telephone conversation. The following scenario represents a typical PTT interaction, one in which a first person (the initiator) is trying to contact a second person (the recipient) using a Nextel phone: